Aspects of the invention relate generally to systems and methods for identifying operating temperatures and/or modifying of integrated circuits (ICs). More specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure can identify features of an IC which have experienced operating temperatures above a particular value, and can modify the operation of an IC by the use of temperature treatments.
Each IC of a particular device can be made up of millions of interconnected devices, such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, and diodes, located on one or more chips of semiconductor substrate material. Computer-implemented solutions such as manufacturing models can at least partially govern the design, fabrication, and other processing steps of IC components used in a given device. Conventional manufacturing models may rely upon predicted values of temperature and/or voltage during deployment. These predicted values are also known as the specification, design, and/or nominal operating temperature or voltage. These temperatures and/or voltages are typically set at the time of design to predict performance attributes such as a total operating time of the IC after being manufactured and deployed.
Actual operating conditions (e.g., temperatures and voltages) of a device can vary significantly from their predicted conditions. These variations can alter the field viability of a device which includes ICs therein. In addition, an IC of a product may be subject to unauthorized tampering and/or modification after being deployed. For example, some IC components may be removed from a corresponding card, or may undergo “cosmetic” repairs which can negatively affect the performance of an underlying feature or module. Thus, the true quality of a device may differ from what the manufacturing model of its manufacturing line predicts.